Learning the Arabic Language

There are various dialects of the Arabic language. Major dialects include: Egyptian Arabic, Maghrebi Arabic,Levantine Arabic, Iraqi Arabic, Eastern Arabic, and Gulf Arabic.

That being said, spoken Arabic thus varies from country to country. In contrast, classical Arabic, the language of the Koran has remained largely unchanged since the 7th century.

There are three major groups of dialects in Saudi Arabia - Hijazi, spoken on the western coast, in Jidda, Taif, and the holy cities of Mecca and Medina; Najdi, spoken in and around Riyadh, in the north central part of the country; and Shargi, spoken in the oil-rich eastern reqion.

While the Najdi dialect enjoys prestige by virtue of its conservatism and relative closeness to Classical Arabic and the fact that it is the dialect of the royal family, the Hijazi dialect is used throughout the country for government and commercial purposes, and has become the most widely-understood dialect in the Arabian Peninsula.

Talk Now Arabic

Talk Now! is the world's best selling language learning CD-ROM series for beginners, used by more than eight million people to date. It's ideal for travelers, holiday makers, business people, school children, students and families. Anyone beginning to learn Arabic will find the disc indispensable.

* Nine topics-first words, food, colors, phrases, parts of the body, numbers, time, shopping and countries.

*Speech recording-compare your voice with native speakers

* Two quiz levels-test what you've learned, earn points and monitor your progress.

* Memory Games-to improve your knowledge of key vocabulary.

* Intelligent Software-remembers words you get wrong and targets your weak points.

* Automatic Localization-lets you choose the language you learn from (more than 100 available).

* Wide range of words-from greetings and phrases to parts of the body, numbers and shopping.

* Gold Award-if you get all 1800 points when using the disc.

* Printable Dictionary-with color pictures.

* iPod integration-listen to Talk Now Arabic wherever you are!

Mac OS X 10.3.9 or higher
Windows 2000/ME/XP/Vista

With Talk More Arabic, you can learn the language of your choice with the EuroTalk way using over an hour of broadcast quality video and the latest interactive techniques. Talk More is the latest series in the EuroTalk range for beginners to intermediates. It is the next step up from our best-selling Talk Now! . Increase your basic knowledge and prepare yourself for World Talk Arabic, our intermediate level. Talk More Arabic is ideal for travelers, holiday makers, business people, students and families.

Nine topics ranging from shopping trips to leisure activities and business meetings.

Broadcast quality video of all the dialogue spoken by native speakers.

Speech recording so you can compare your pronunciation with theirs.

Cinematic dubbing enabling the on-screen characters to speak with your voice.

Multiple choice quizzes to test your understanding

Easy and hard games where you win marks for good pronunciation.

Automatic localization lets you choose the language you learn from.

Printable phrasebook print by section and take the print-outs with you.

Extras disc includes free world atlas game. Challenge yourself, friends and family to know exactly where each country in the world is and much more.

Mac OS X 10.3.9 or higher

Windows 2000/ME/XP/Vista
QuickTime 6 or higher

Talk The Talk Arabic (Classical)
TALK The Talk is designed with teenagers' social lives in mind. It concentrates on the words and phrases young people need for social conversation, including plenty of useful, up-to-date vocabulary. It then builds their spoken confidence, allowing them to compare their accent to that of a native speaker.

Will it work for me?

This program is best suited for teenagers who are beginning to get to grips with Arabic (Classical). It's best if you know some basic vocabulary before you start.

Because it's aimed at recent beginners, everything you hear will be clearly spoken at a speed that you can easily keep up with.

What will I learn?
To talk about the things that are relevant to you. We won't bother you with lots of information you won't need or don't find interesting.

Talk The Talk teaches phrases like "I'll send you a text message later" and "we won the game on penalties". Topics include family, school, hobbies, travelling, home, technology, work and sport.

How does it work?

Watch and learn! See and hear how to speak Arabic (Classical) by watching video footage of native speakers.

Build confidence on a computer. Before testing your new speaking skills in the real world, record yourself, then play back to compare your pronunciation with a native speaker. (Note that we don't use electronic voice analysis: the human ear is usually much more accurate.)

Play interactive games. The comprehension quiz prompts you to react to real life situations, while a challenging recording quiz tests your knowledge and pronunciation.

You earn points for every game you play. High scorers can go on to win bronze, silver and gold awards, which you can print out as a record of achievement.

You can learn on the move. Carry on learning in the airport lounge or on the ferry. Just print out the phrasebook sheets included in the program and take them with you.

System Requirements

Windows 2000 or later
Mac OS X 10.3.9 or above
CD ROM Drive (+ computer microphone)
QuickTime 6 or higher

Talk Business Arabic (Classical)

PICTURE yourself doing business with someone who doesn't speak your language. The chances are you'll need more than "holiday level" conversation to get by. That's why Talk Business was developed. It teaches you basic business vocabulary so that you can concentrate on the important stuff and not waste time searching for the right words.

Will it work for me?

Talk Business is aimed at people who already have some experience of the language. You must feel confident enough to start up a conversation and keep it going.

The specialist phrases in Talk Business Arabic (Classical) are clearly spoken at a speed that you can easily keep up with and copy.

What will I learn?

Talk Business Arabic (Classical) gives you essential vocabulary for the workplace. It covers basics such as "what is your website address?" and "my computer crashed and I lost all my files" as well as more advanced discussion of exchange rates, product guarantees and marketing budgets.

Topics covered are: - Trading, buying and selling - Marketing, advertising and PR - IT, Internet, e-commerce and communications - Banking, finance, stock exchange and accounting - Business meetings - Business travel - Careers - Negotiations - On the phone - General business vocabulary

How does it work?

Watch and learn! See and hear how to speak Arabic (Classical) by watching video footage of native speakers.

Build confidence on a computer. Before testing your new speaking skills in the real world, record yourself, then play back to compare your pronunciation with a native speaker. (Note that we don't use electronic voice analysis: the human ear is usually more accurate.)

Play interactive games. The comprehension quiz prompts you to react to real life situations, while a challenging recording quiz tests your knowledge and pronunciation.

You earn points for every game you play. High scorers can go on to win bronze, silver and gold awards, which you can print out as a record of achievement.

You can learn on the move. Carry on learning in the airport lounge or on the ferry. Just print out the phrasebook sheets included in the program and take them with you.

System Requirements

Windows 2000 or later
Mac OS X 10.3.9 or above
CD ROM Drive (+ computer microphone)
QuickTime 6 or higher

World Talk Arabic

World Talk Arabic is aimed at intermediate level learners who have already built up some confidence listening to and speaking Arabic . The interactive games and quizzes will help to further develop fluency and understanding of the language.

10 Arabic language games including 'Lottery numbers', 'What did you say', 'Sentence building', 'Out to dinner' and others to help you learn, test and practice your Arabic language skills.

Quickfire TV quiz challenge a friend, or the computer to improve your Zulu skills.

Recording studio gain confidence in speaking Arabic . Take the part of an actor and record yourself!

Dictation six stories to give you practice in dictation and comprehension at your own pace!

Automatic localization lets you choose the language you learn from (more than 50 available).

Printable worksheets that you can take anywhere.

Learning Arabic - Benefits and Challenges

By NP Dowling

Learning Arabic is easier now than ever before but it is still a difficult language for English speakers to grasp as quickly as other European languages. There are numerous Internet resources available, and also many language programs online which help with pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, and indeed in some cases do quite a good job of simulating immersion and context, which is the best way to learn any language, including Arabic.

For English speakers especially, there are some challenges. There is a high incidence of guttural sounds, which is very different to the Romance and Germanic languages. Sounds in Arabic are totally different. That is balanced, and more than balanced, by the fact that Arabic only has two verb tenses, and very few grammar rules to master.

The word alcohol comes from Arabic, which certainly surprised me, and many other words, like elixir, algebra, and magazine, can also be traced to Arabic.

Like Hebrew, written Arabic moves from right to left on the page. The Modern Standard Arabic language is also the language of Islam, and it is spreading throughout the world as Islam spreads as a world religion, to most countries in Europe and elsewhere. As the language becomes more widespread, both geographically and in terms of the number of people who speak it, the benefits of learning it increase.

Deriving from the Semetic language group, Arabic is a language with an incredible history. Dating back to Mohammed and the 7th century, it is now spoken in over 20 countries with 195 million people speaking Arabic as their first language, and another 35 million plus speaking it as their second language.

Even though written Arabic is quite standardized, there are huge variations in local spoken dialects.

As Arabic in spoken form has wonderful rhythm and a harmonic flavor, it suits perfectly the wonderful poetry and literature that is part of a vast collection of works in the language. Written records began in the 7th century, with generation to generation verbal pass-down before that. Because of the rhythmic nature of the language, much of the prose is written in verse form.

There are 28 consonants in Modern Standard Arabic. Vowels come in both long and short form, but there are only three in total in Arabic.

Because the Koran was revealed to their prophet via Arabic, the language is viewed as sacred among the Muslim community. And that is the reason why Arabic has emerged as the biggest Semitic language.

There are many reasons why one would want to learn Arabic. Instead of being put off by pronunciations which seem challenging and do require significant effort be excited about the benefits of a great perspective and wonderful insights into an early civilization and its incredible history. This will make you want to put the effort into mastering Arabic, which is totally possible with some practice.

The author operates a Language Website, and invites you to review his Learning Arabic Online recommendations.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=NP_Dowling


http://EzineArticles.com/?Learning-Arabic---Benefits-and-Challenges&id=3412797

Learn Moroccan Arabic (called darija) with audio

Learn thousands of Moroccan Arabic words

Learn from a native speaker

Learn the correct pronunciation of Moroccan words

Learn how to ask questions and to express yourself in Moroccan

Suitable for beginner level to intermediate level

Learn how to do the following:

Greet People, Respond to Greetings, Words for People and Professions, Asking Questions, Getting Directions, Words to Use at the Airport, Present Tense of Words, The Future Tense, The Past Tense, Words to Use at a Hotel, Words for Traveling, Telling Time, Counting, The Months of the Year , and much more (shopping,animals, school, negating a verb, pronouns, adjectives, common words, vocabulary, colors etc etc).

For more information visit Click Here!